The Carrot Tops Allotment Blog!

It’s been an interesting year growing wise – in the fact that I’ve not actually done much growing…

But that’s not to say I’ve not come away empty handed, as I’ve been cultivating a few fruit spots on the plot.

Before I go any further, I’d have to say that a top tip at the allotment would be to take time in growing fruits. I’ve learnt that they are very low maintenance and provide good returns for the amount of effort that’s involved in maintaining them.

Golden plums

I have a golden plum tree toward the end of the plot that I’ve been cultivating and pruning from an offshoot of a bigger tree on site for about three years now, and for the first time it bore fruits – which I have to say was a real treat.

I didn’t get that many plums, but enough to have a pick each time I visited. I’m not sure what variety it is, one of these days I’ll make efforts to determine that once and for all.

These plums are a real treat as they consist of sweet syrupy flesh and a soft outer skin. I would imagine these would be perfect for jam making – but they do go off quickly, so I’m not sure you’d want to waste them on jam. They’re just a good, straight off the vine.

Wild, Wild Blackberries

I have wild blackberries growing on the plot and if I could give you any advice with these it would be to keep them, but keep them in check with consistent, seasonal pruning.

It’s fantastic that these plants require almost no care and produce such an abundance of fruits – but they are so unbelievably wild that they will multiply and take over before you know it.

These fruits are great for freezing, baking in a crumble or even in a milkshake. They’re a little bit on the sour side, so a teaspoon of sugar can go a long way.

Once the plot is finished, it’ll be a task to prune and get the shrubs back into shape.

Autumn Bliss Raspberries

Earlier in the year I purchased and planted some raspberry plants and they have not failed to disappoint – particularly the Autumn Bliss variety.

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In all honesty, in the first year – I didn’t expect many fruits, but these have kept producing even as the summer sun sets for the year. The fruits are soft, sweet and have a real “one for me, one for the pot” kind of taste.

I would definitely recommend growing raspberries if you can. The maintenance of which has consisted of regular hoeing every one to two weeks, covering the ground to keep weed growth down and tying up so they don’t accumulate on the ground.

Autumn bliss by name – Autumn Bliss by nature 🙂

What fruits have you been growing? I’d love to know in the comments below!